PC World names Parallels Desktop for Mac "Most Innovative Product of 2006"

Today PC World Magazine, the world's most widely circulated computer magazine, released its list of the 20 Most Innovative Products of the Year. Parallels Desktop for Mac checked in at #3, coming in only behind Microsoft Office 2007, and Intel Core 2 Duo architecture. That's pretty elite company.

What I find most impressive about this particular award is that our Macintosh product was just named one of the best products of the year by a PC magazine. I think that speaks volumes about how important the work we're doing to give computer users the best of all worlds is.

The full article is available here. To save you some time, the entire top-20 list is below:

1. Microsoft Office 2007
2. Intel Core 2 Duo Architecture
3. PARALLELS DESKTOP FOR MAC
4. Nintendo Wii
5. Samsung 32GB SSD
6. Sony Reader
7. YouOS
8. Dell XPS m2010
9. Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750GB
10. T-moble Dash
11. Pioneer Inno
12. Farecast
13. Sony BWU-100A Blu-Ray Disc Rewritable Drive
14. Olympus e-Volt 330
15. Google SketchUp
16. Sony Playstation 3
17. Blackberry Pearl
18. Rhapsody 4.0
19. Logitech NuLooq
20. Shure e500pth Sound Isolating earphones

I highly recommend you check out all of the products on this list. They're all wicked cool.


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Io, Saturnalia! Happy Hannukah! Merry Christmas! Habari Gani! Happy New Year!

"Ask Ben Anything" will be on vacation next week, to celebrate the holiday season, which includes:

• Hannukah (December 14th - 22nd)
• Christmas (December 25th)
  
• Boxing Day (December 26th)
• Kwanzaa (December 26th, - January 1st)
• New Year's Day (January 1st, obviously)
• The winter solstice (December 21st)

and of course...

• Saturnalia (December 23rd).

Have a great Hanuchristmakwanzaanalia Day and I'll see you in 2007!

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Ask Ben Anything - Configuring Coherence

Coherence rocks! But since I only need a few Windows apps, its a pain to load Windows, then go to Coherence mode, then load an application. Can I just load apps in Coherence without booting Windows?

- Jimmy G.

Yes and no. While you will need Windows completely loaded in Parallels to use Coherence, you can set Windows to boot straight in Coherence mode. Just open your VM properties page, click "configuration", then "Booting" and click the "Switch to Coherence automatically." Next time you boot Windows, you'll go straight to Coherence mode.


I see when I load a Windows app it now appears in the dock. How do I get it to stay there?

- Anonymous

Easy. Just right click on the Windows icon in your dock (or click and hold), and select "keep in dock". From there on out, that icon will serve as quick-launch icon for that app. Just click it, and the Windows app will load straight on your Mac desktop! Here's a screenshot of my dock to give you an idea of how I'm using this feature:

Note that Windows apps in Parallels have the Parallels icon attached to them, so you cna easily see which icons are for Windows apps, and which are for Mac apps.


In Beta1, when I switched to Coherence, my Windows taskbar stayed on screen. Now its gone. Did I do something dumb to make it go away?

- Linda R.

Not at all! With the new improved Coherence mode that lets you launch Windows apps from the Mac dock, we took the taskbar away by default. However, its easy to get it back if you so desire. Just open your Windows XP properties page, and click "configuration", then click "coherence" in the configuration menu on the left. You'll see a series of checkboxes that will let you see the taskbar, help you relocate it automatically (ie, move the Windows taskbar to the top of the screen automatically when you go to Coherence mode), and customize your work area.
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Parallels named 2006 MacWorld Reader's Choice Award!

Last week we backed up our 2006 MacWorld Editor's Choice Product of the Year Award with an even bigger win - 2006 MacWorld Reader's Choice Product of the Year!


The Reader's Choice Award, started in 2003, is a chance for Mac users to let the world know which products they found to be the most impressive, the most useful, and the most important. This year's selections were Parallels Desktop for Mac, and the new 24" iMac.

Our win was the first time EVER that a non-Apple product won this award! Thanks to everyone again (I know I say this every week) for all of your continued support. We really couldn't have done it without you.

The full announcement/award article is available here.


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Ask Ben Anything - Shared Networking, "snapshots", and drag & drop size restrictions

Problem: I'm a road-warrior, so I'm often in hotels and airport lounges and
Starbucks and so forth. For example, I have a T-Mobile WiFi subscription
(and am writing you from a United Red Carpet Club). But I can't seem to get
it working with my Parallels workstation! Even though my host laptop is
crankin' away with a great Internet connection on my T-Mobile WiFi account,
the VM insists the connection has "little or no connectivity".

- Scott J.

Easy to fix! There's a mode under "Networking" called "Shared Networking". This mode, in layman's terms, means that whenever your Mac is online, your VM is online. It works via NAT (Network Address Translation) that enables your VM's IP address to hide behind your Mac's IP, which gets your VM online even on a connection (like a T-Mobile HotSpot) that only allows one IP per connection.


In my line of work a "snapshot" capability is really useful. I know that cloning a machine is one way to revert to a previous state, but that is too slow and not as useful. Any future snapshot plans for Parallels?

Keep up the great work! Thank you for Parallels. It runs on my MacPro at work and is truly a killer app.

- Ash

Thanks for the support! Yes, a "snapshot" type feature is in the works and should be ready by the next major update. Hold tight for a few more months.


Is there any limit to the size of a folder/file I can drag & drop?

- Marc K.

Nope, none at all. It'll just take a bit longer to work with a massive file or folder. For really big files, you may just want to store them in a Shared Folder so its always at the ready for both OS X and Windows.


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The Great Parallels Video Testimonial Contest: Win a FREE PASS to MacWorld 2007 and other great Parallels stuff!

I get a lot of emails from people telling me about how using Parallels has changed the way they live, play, and do business. After reading a bunch of these this week, I thought "why should I be the only one who sees this stuff?" Thus, the Great Parallels Video Testimonial Contest was born!

Here's the deal: Create a video testimonial that tells us how and why you use Parallels Desktop for Mac or Parallels Workstation for Win/Lin, what problem it solves, and how you're going to use Parallels products in the future. If we pick it as one of the best, we'll showcase it on our website and at our MacWorld Conference & Expo Booth (#1643, come visit us if you're hitting the show), and you'll get one of these great prizes:

• FREE Macworld Expo Guest Pass. This will get you all-access to the MacWorld Exhibit hall for the duration of the conference!
  
• Squidgy Parallels Orange Stress Balls
• Limited Edition Parallels T-Shirt
• A free, fully licensed copy of the Parallels product of your choice
  

WHAT TO INCLUDE:

• Which Parallels product you're using, and on how many machines (and what kind).
  
• Your name and your company's name (if applicable)
• The problem you were having, and how Parallels solves it
• Benefits you've realized from using our software. The more specific the better.
• Your creativity! Keep it clean though; no nudity, senseless violence, or obscenities. Although I am a fan of all three, this isn't the place for them.
  

HOW, WHEN AND WHERE TO SUBMIT YOUR VIDEO:

• Video length: No more than 3 minutes
• Upload your video to YouTube.
  
• When you get the URL, email the link and HTML code to me so my marketing team and I can check it out.
• The deadline for submissions is JANUARY 2ND, 2007, 5PM EST.
  

Good luck to everyone; I can't wait to see what you come up with!
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Parallels Desktop wins the 22nd Annual MacWorld Editor's Choice Award

Earlier today, Parallels Destkop for Mac was named one of the most significant Mac products of the year by the editorial staff of MacWorld magazine, winning the 22nd Annual MacWorld Editor's Choice Award, otherwise known as "Eddy".

This is Eddy. He's going to look great in our lobby.

This is a very, very prestigious award. Out of the thousands of products MacWorld reviews each year, only 120 were named Editor's Recommendations, and out of those, only 29 received an Eddy. Needless to say, its a BIG deal.

Thanks again to all of our users around the world who helped with beta testing, offered support, advice and suggestions, and let us know exactly what we needed to do to make Parallels Desktop the #1 way to run Windows on a Mac.

Winning this award (and the many others that we've received in 2006) makes us work even harder. Keep an eye out for more great stuff from Parallels in 07!

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Come visit Parallels MacWorld 2007!

As you can see by reading the massive banner at the top of the blog, Parallels is going to be at MacWorld 2007 from January 8th through January 12th, 2006. I'll be posting more information about our presence there later, but wanted to get the basics to you now:

Our booth is number 1643; we're in the South Hall right behind the Apple Booth. If you're attending the show, come by the booth to talk to the team and see what's new with our products (and there's plenty of new stuff, and more coming!). We'll have technical resources on hand to answer any questions that you need answered, too.


We're also handing out a pile of free stuff, including:

• 100 FREE Fully Licensed Copies of Parallels Desktop for Mac! Give us your business card, answer a small questionnaire and you'll be entered to win one of 100 FREE copies of Parallels Desktop for Mac.
• Free Trial Software for Everyone! Everyone who visits the booth will receive a free trial version of the most recent version of Parallels Desktop for Mac!
• Fun tchotchke giveaways that make great conference presents for wives/husbands/girlfriends/boyfriends/kids/co-workers/pets
  

The best prizes and giveaways are a secret, so come by the booth or find a Parallels team member on the floor for your chance to win special high-value prizes. I can't tell you what they are, but trust me, you want one.

Not registered for MacWorld 2007? Find out more information about the conference and register the conference homepage.

See you all in a few weeks!

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Parallels in NYC at the Fifth Avenue Apple Store

Tonight at 7pm I'll be at the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in New York to talk about Parallels Desktop for Mac. If you're in the city, come by to talk shop, see what's new with the product, and learn how to get the most out of your machine by running Windows, Linux and more at the same time as OS X.

Space is very limited at the Fifth Avenue store, and there are a lot of Apple Store employees comign from all over the New York area, so get there early to get a seat!


More info on the presentation and the store are available at the Fifth Avenue Store's homepage.

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Ask Ben Anything - Questions about the new beta build

I've received a number of questions about the beta update that we released last week, so I wanted to devote this column to explaining what's new:

Coherence: Run Windows without seeing Windows.
Coherence is a great new view mode that allows you to run any Windows application without seeing the Windows desktop! Each app sits in a self-contained window on your OS X desktop giving the illusion that the VM isn't even there.

Its wicked cool. Check out Coherence in action:

Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 and Microsoft Outlook running alongside
iPhoto and Safari via Parallels Dekstop's Coherence

Prefer working with a full Windows desktop? You can still do that, but we've made it even easier with a fully resizable window. Now you can just drag the corner of the Parallels window and your VM will automatically resize, without losing resolution.

Run your Boot Camp install in a Parallels virtual machine.
Load your Boot Camp partition in Parallels without losing data, reinstalling applications, or re-loading Windows. A much requested feature that's finally here!

File sharing just got easier with true "drag and drop"
In addition to a more powerful Shared Folder utility (you can now configure Shared Folders on the fly, while your VM is running), we've included true "drag and drop" functionality. Just drag a file from one OS to another and boost productivity even more!

All in all, this beta build has a ton of great stuff...and when its ready to go "live", it'll be COMPLETELY FREE to all registered users!

Ready to check it out? Get it now, and learn about how others are using the beta update's great new features, at the Parallels Technical Forum.

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